Dosh Financial Advocacy

Supporting people with a learning disability to be more independent and have more control over their money.

Dosh Financial Advocacy

Supporting people with a learning disability to be more independent and have more control over their money.

Dosh Financial Advocacy

Supporting people with a learning disability to be more independent and have more control over their money.

Dosh Financial Advocacy

Supporting people with a learning disability to be more independent and have more control over their money.

Appointeeship and financial advocacy

Dosh can support you to manage and use your money in the way you want. This is called financial advocacy.

Financial advocacy means you will have a local financial advocate who will visit you and support you with your benefits, budgeting, banking, bills and many more things.

If you need someone to manage your benefits for you, Dosh can also be your appointee. This is for people who cannot understand how to manage their own benefits (this means they lack capacity). We call this person-centred appointeeship, which means we still include financial advocacy, as well as appointeeship.

What does this include?

Financial advocacy includes:

Regular visits from your local financial advocate

Being part of your circle of support and involving them in financial decisions (if you want us to)

A benefits assessment and help applying for new benefits, such as moving from DLA to PIP

Help with fairer charging financial assessments for contribution to care charges

Best interest decision process and form

Our Money Plan and game, which give you an accessible weekly budget

Support with banking and opening bank accounts

Learning new money skills

Support to access different grants and schemes, including Motability

Person-centred appointeeship includes everything under financial advocacy and also includes:

Applying to be appointees with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)

Opening a Dosh managed bank account for your benefits

Easy Read bank statements from your Dosh bank account

Applying for, receiving and managing your benefits

Setting up direct debits and standing orders for bills and other spending

Payments for holidays, bills, invoices and other purchases from the Dosh account

Who is this for?

We can act as financial advocates for any adult with a learning disability. We can also be your appointee if you lack capacity to manage your benefits. Financial advocacy and appointeeship are good for people who want regular support to help them pay bills, manage their benefits and budget. It is ideal for people whose family members or support teams do not have the time or benefits expertise to manage their money. We work with over 60 care and support providers and always involve families and other people in the circle of support when we can.

How much does it cost?

Dosh is a non-profit company, but we do have to cover our costs. Financial advocacy (including appointeeship if you want) costs £16.00 per week. You may be able to get funding for this support through your personal budget or it may be funded by your support provider or someone else. If not, some people pay for this from their own benefit money and we make sure this is affordable for them. If you would like to discuss this further, please contact us.

If you would like us to be your financial advocate or appointee, or you have any questions about these, please contact us to discuss and make a referral. You can refer yourself to us, or we can accept referrals from your family, support team, Local Authority and others.

I am not sure. What other support do you offer?

If there is something you want support with that is not on this list then please get in touch. We can work together to provide a package of support that suits you. If you do not think advocacy or appointeeship are right for you, have a look at our money check instead, or read about our other support options. We would also be happy to speak to you about your individual needs; please get in touch.